PROPHET ISAIAH
Verse 13. A tenth— This passage, though somewhat obscure, and
variously explained by various interpreters, has, I think, been made so clear by the accomplishment of the prophecy, that there remains little room to doubt of the sense of it. When Nebuchadnezzar had carried away the
greater and better part of the people into captivity, there was yet a tenth remaining in the land, the poorer sort left to be vinedressers and
husbandmen, under Gedaliah, <122512>2 Kings 25:12, 22, and the dispersed Jews gathered themselves together, and returned to him, <244012>Jeremiah 40:12; yet even these, fleeing into Egypt after the death of Gedaliah, contrary to the warning of God given by the prophet Jeremiah, miserably perished there. Again, in the subsequent and more remarkable completion of the prophecy in the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dissolution of the commonwealth by the Romans, when the Jews, after the loss of above a million of men, had increased from the scanty residue that was left of them, and had become very numerous again in their country; Hadrian, provoked by their rebellious behavior, slew above half a million more of them, and a second time almost extirpated the nation. Yet after these signal and almost universal destructions of that nation, and after so many other repeated exterminations and massacres of them in different times and on various occasions since, we yet see, with astonishment, that the stock still remains, from which God, according to his promise frequently given by his
prophets, will cause his people to shoot forth again, and to flourish. — L.
A tenth, hyryç[ asiriyah. The meaning, says Kimchi, of this word is, there shall yet be in the land ten kings from the time of declaring this prophecy.
The names of the ten kings are Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Jostah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah; then there shall be a general consumption, the people shall be carried into captivity, and Jerusalem shall be destroyed.
For µb bam, in them, above seventy MSS., eleven of Kennicott’s, and thirty-four of De Rossi’s, read hb bah, in it; and so the Septuagint.
CHAPTER 7
The king of Judah and the royal family being in the utmost
consternation on receiving accounts of the invasion of the kings of Syria and Israel, the prophet is sent to assure them that God would make good his promises to David and his house; so that, although they might be corrected, they could not be destroyed, while these prophecies remained to be accomplished, 1-9. The Lord gives Ahaz a sign that the confederacy against Judah shall be broken, which sign strikingly points out the miraculous conception of the Messiah, who was to spring from the tribe of Judah, 10-16. Prediction of very heavy calamities which the Assyrians would inflict upon the land of Judea, 17-25.
The confederacy of Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, against the kingdom of Judah, was formed in the time of Jotham; and perhaps the effects of it were felt in the latter part of his reign; see <121537>2 Kings 15:37, and note on chap. 1:7-9. However, in the very beginning of the reign of Ahaz, they jointly invaded Judah with a powerful army, and threatened to destroy or to dethrone the house of David. The king and royal family being in the utmost consternation on receiving advises of their designs, Isaiah is sent to them to support and comfort them in their present distress, by assuring them that God would make good his promises to David and his house. This makes the subject of this, and the following, and the beginning of the ninth chapters, in which there are many and great difficulties.
Chap. 7:begins with an historical account of the occasion of this prophecy;
and then follows, ver. 4-16, a prediction of the ill success of the designs of the Israelites and Syrians against Judah; and from thence to the end of the chapter, a denunciation of the calamities to be brought upon the king and people of Judah by the Assyrians, whom they had now hired to assist them.
Chap. 8:has a pretty close connection with the foregoing; it contains a confirmation of the prophecy before given of the approaching destruction of the kingdoms of Israel and Syria by the Assyrians, of the denunciation of the invasion of Judah by the same Assyrians. Verses 9, 10, give a repeated general assurance, that all the designs of the enemies of God’s people shall be in the end disappointed and brought to naught; ver. 11, etc.,
admonitions and threatenings, (I do not attempt a more particular explanation of this very difficult part,) concluding with an illustrious prophecy chap. 9:1-6, of the manifestation of Messiah, the transcendent dignity of his character, and the universality and eternal duration of his kingdom.
NOTES ON CHAP. 7
Verse 3. Now— an na, is omitted by two MSS., the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate.
Verse 4. The Syriac omits µraw vearam, “and Syria;” the Vulgate reads µra _lm melech aram, “king of Syria:” one or the other seems to be the true reading. I prefer the former: or, instead of bw µraw vearam uben, read b jqpw vepekach ben, and pekah son, MS.